Now (3 – x) can be eliminated from both the top and the bottom:
That’s the same as choice (B):
Alternative method: Here’s another way to answer this question. Pick a
number for x and see what happens. One of the answer choices will give you
the same value as the original fraction will, no matter what you plug in for x.
Pick a number that’s easy to work with—like 0.
When you plug x = 0 into the original expression, any term with an x drops out,
and you end up with Now plug x = 0 into each answer choice to see
which ones equal
When you get to (B), it works, but you can’t stop there. It might just be a
coincidence. When you pick numbers, look at every answer choice. Choice (E)
also works for x = 0. At least you know one of those is the correct answer, and
you can decide between them by picking another value for x.
This is not a sophisticated approach, but who cares? You don’t get points for
elegance. You get points for right answers.